The breakdown of the seats won shows a clear mandate for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his United National Party.

The political organization, also known as the green party (for the color of its logo, not because it supports eco-friendly policies) saw the number of seats it holds in the 225-seat Parliament jump 75% to more than 105, up from the 60 seats it won in the 2010 election.

The coalition backing Mr. Rajapaksa, the United People’s Freedon alliance, lost almost the same number of seats that the UNP gained. Its once dominant position of 144 seats in Parliament dwindled to less than 100.

Neither party captured a majority so the UNP will have to form a coalition. That should be easy with the support of smaller parties, including the Tamil National Alliance, which captured more than 15 seats.